Polygonal lighting

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A polygon light is an object with a luminescent material applied. In conjunction with Global Illumination, we can use polygon lights to illuminate indoor scenes such as our simple photographic studio. In this video, learn how to create and manipulate poly

- [Instructor] We can use polygon lights…to illuminate indoor scenes…such as our simple photographic studio.…So, what we can do is begin by creating a simple polygon…and I'm going to change the direction to be minus Z…and then, I'm going to move it up on the Y;…I want to rotate it around like so.…I like to have the Z axis pointing down;…I kind of relate that to sort of aerial lights…and things like that.…So this would be…a light source…in a GI calculation.…

And to make it a light source,…we need a luminescent material on it.…So, I've got a few already here.…This one, we just have the luminance channel turned on.…And it's important to come over to your Illumination tab,…here, and make sure GI Area Light is on.…I've also unchecked Receive GI…because this is just a lightenist.…Its job is to just generate GI.…So, you can uncheck that, as well.…So now, we'll add that to our polygon.…And, what we can do is, increase the size of this…quite a bit, maybe 200.…

And that should give us a sort of…soft lighting on our subject here…

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Released

1/31/2017

Enrich your understanding of how to work with materials and lighting in CINEMA 4D (C4D), and see how to incorporate these techniques in your product visualization workflow. In this course, review core C4D concepts, discover how to work with models that are not in the native C4D format, and see how to build different kinds of materials—bumpy, luminous, reflective, and refractive—as well as how to work with existing materials on imported models. This course also shows how to work with cameras to create effects such as depth of field, how to use Global Illumination and other lighting methods to enhance the realism of your renders, and more.

This is an introductory course, but if you're brand new to C4D, check out CINEMA 4D R18 Essential Training: The Basics. In that course, instructor Andy Needham starts from the very beginning, introducing you to the interface and other basic concepts to help you understand what C4D is and how it functions.